Wilmot Proviso

E311072

The Wilmot Proviso was a proposed 1846 U.S. legislative amendment that sought to ban slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico, intensifying sectional tensions and shaping antebellum politics.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
Wilmot Proviso canonical 3
supported Wilmot Proviso 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf antebellum-era political proposal
proposed United States legislative amendment
appliesTo Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
surface form: Mexican Cession

territories acquired from Mexico
appliesToJurisdiction United States Congress
attachedTo war appropriations bill for negotiations with Mexico
chronology introduced multiple times between 1846 and 1848
country United States of America
surface form: United States
dateProposed 1846-08-08
describedIn congressional debates of the late 1840s
fieldOfWork U.S. federal legislation on slavery
goal to ban involuntary servitude in territories taken from Mexico
to prohibit slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico
hasEffect intensified sectional tensions over slavery
shaped antebellum U.S. politics
hasHistoricalSignificance early explicit congressional attempt to restrict slavery’s westward expansion
historicalPeriod Antebellum period
ideologicalPosition anti-slavery expansion
free soil
influenced development of the Republican Party
rise of the Free Soil Party
sectional polarization between North and South
languageSummary stipulated that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any territory acquired from Mexico
legalEffectIfAdopted ban on slavery in Mexican Cession territories
legalForm amendment to an appropriations bill
legislativeBody United States House of Representatives
United States Senate
legislativeOutcome failed in the U.S. Senate
passed the U.S. House of Representatives
legislativeSession 29th United States Congress
mainSubject slavery in United States territories
namedAfter David Wilmot
opposedBy Southern Democrats
many Southern Whigs
partOf Mexican–American War era politics
pointInTime 1846
proposedBy David Wilmot
Wilmot, David
proposerOccupation U.S. Representative
proposerState Pennsylvania
reasonForOpposition perceived threat to slaveholding interests
reasonForSupport desire to reserve western lands for free white labor
relatedConflict Mexican–American War
relatedTo Compromise of 1850
Kansas–Nebraska Act
Missouri Compromise
status never enacted into law
supportedBy Northern Democratic Party
surface form: Northern Democrats

many Northern Whigs

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Barnburner Democrats supported Wilmot Proviso
Conscience Whigs politicalPosition Wilmot Proviso
this entity surface form: supported Wilmot Proviso
slave power controversy relatedTo Wilmot Proviso
subject surface form: Slave Power Controversy